Many people, writers and professionals, spend the better time of their day writing. The sheer amount of information produced (and possibly discarded) on a daily basis is enough to make you depressed, if you stop writing for a second to think about it.

In addition to all the wild writing going on, we all have our other daily commitments: shopping for groceries, cooking healthy meals, family, and maybe friends too if you don’t want to become a complete hermit.

So any trick to speed up the writing process would be a good one, right? Writing faster means you finish that novel faster, you get your work done before 5 p.m. or you get to simply become more accomplished. Either way, writing faster can benefit anyone who ever picks up a pen or touches a keyboard.

How I learned to write fast

I was forced to type very fast when helping my mother through her divorce. Aside from the fact we were on other sides of the world, and writing hundreds of emails a month, I helped her draft all court related materials. Often, due to health reasons, she would dictate what she wanted to say to me, and I would type it out almost as fast as she would speak. Only sometimes I’d ask her to repeat or slow down. So how did I do it?

• I would often write notes in bullet point form and work them out later
• I would “Throw up on the screen”, as suggested by Alisa at ProBlogger.
• I write fast, and rewrite later. I used to spend a lot of time thinking about the right words, now I insert a note-to-self and get back to it later. Often, when rereading my work, the word will come to be automatically.
• If all fails, just free write for a few minutes to get more ideas going.

As Alisa mentioned in her article as well, it helps to know what you want to say. Clearly you can only write fast if you are not doing any research for ideas at the same time.

Tips for Bloggers and Freelance Writers

The biggest time drain on any writer, whether you are a blogger thinking up 7 articles a week, or a freelancer who needs to make ends meet, is researching topics. Sometimes good ideas strike at the worst possible times, and it is important to write down those ideas in one place (and one place only). Keep a dedicated small notebook in your purse or pocket for article ideas, and whenever you have one on the subway or in line for coffee you can write it down. Whenever you’re sitting at your desk ready to write an article for your blog, or a query to a magazine, take out your notebook and start writing… really fast.

There are few things writers complain of more than writer’s block. There are various schools of thought on the topic, but in accordance with our modern ‘can-do’ attitude, a larger body of writers are actually calling this common ailment a myth.

Writer’s Block can be Anything

Having a writing block just translates into an inability to write, a loss of creativity and productivity. This can be caused by a host of different things, such as:

• Illness
• Low energy/fatigue
• Stress (family, work, etc)
• Loss of focus
• Lack of organization

Writers who say they have a ‘muse’, are often just fueling their art with spurts of energy and creativity. Muses can exist, but they are more often a great book or fine art rather than a pretty lady in a big ballroom dress. When you lose your muse, you lose your creative inspiration or even your will to write.

It can happen to anyone, trust me I’m someone who plays the writer’s block card often enough! Finding out what is the cause for your lack of productivity is really the key to restarting your creative engines.

The Cure for Writer’s Block

1. Sometimes a cure for your writer’s block can be as simple as a change of scenery. Do you often write at home? Try a library or local café. A coffee shop can serve as a writing exercise to jump start your creative juices in the first place: people watching, and taking notes, can be a huge help when finding new situations, dialogues or conflicts for your characters. You never know, perhaps your protagonist will walk in and order a double espresso…
2. Find the root of the problem. If your energy levels are low in all other aspects of your life, then it is no big surprise you are not feeling up to the next 10.000 word challenge for your novel. Analyze your life and try to figure out what is draining you. If you can, reduce the number of stressors you have in your life, and devote a block of time every week to writing. Be religious about it, even if you need to invent a small lie to get it done.

I’m personally too accommodating a person to let my own priorities come before those of others in my life, so I end up always sacrificing my writing time to do other things or help others. I’ve decided to join a workshop or a creative group, to force me to devote a particular amount of time every week to my goals. Because it is a fixed commitment, like a course, nobody can really interfere with it. I’m simply not available for that chunk of time.

If you don’t want to join a class or group, you can go so far to tell others you have and turn your phone off during ‘class hours’. It’s a bit extreme, but for people who don’t take your writing as seriously as you would like it, it is a possible solution. If you do join a course – even if it is not related to writing – consider blocking off an hour before or after the course to dedicate to writing. Chances are, you’re away from home already and nobody is really expecting anything from you for that evening. One extra hour of mock ‘class time’ (read: writing time) is really not going to be the end of the world

3. Make a pact with yourself to write something. An old post at 43 folders basically has a number of suggestions that boil down to just that: getting yourself to do something. In many cases, at least for me, I just have to get over some sort of mental hurdle to get writing. My favorite ritual is to get a ‘Grande, extra-hot, non-fat latte” at Starbucks. Once I actually invest in a fancy coffee, I’d feel terrible if I would not get anything done. So I guess you could say Starbucks is sort of my ‘muse’.

Some writing diversion

If you are using Stumble to get some creative inspiration, you may have come across this website . It’s a funny little writing tool whenever you get tired of Word or Open Office.

How do you get over writer’s block? Do you have any secret tricks of the trade?

[Image credit: Miss Pupik]

Just a few minutes ago I found the following picture on stumble:

I had already read about this research a long time ago, but in a properly spelled article. Although it is interesting that we don’t actually need to spell properly to be understood, I don’t think it works for the really bad spellers, who hardly ever guess correctly at the first and last letter of a work. Nevertheless, although spelling remains important for writers, readers are going to be able to read your most appalling work.

Comforting?

Thanks to Stumble, I just stumbled upon a really neat site. Beware procrastinators though, this website is sure to keep you busy for as long as you want to be!

Here’s the quote that popped up on my screen when I stumbled it:

“Right now I believe that people are too wrapped up in loving others when what they really need is to love themselves a little…”

I second that thought…